Jeremy Corbyn: I won't take the blame if the UK backs Brexit

Jeremy Corbyn has insisted that he will not take the blame if Britain leaves the European Union despite accusations from his own MPs that he has failed to do enough to support the campaign.

The Labour leader, who is a lifelong eurosceptic, admitted that “there may well be” a vote to leave the European Union and said that “whatever the result we’ve got to work with it”.

Mr Corbyn also attacked plans for an EU trade deal with the US, which has been hailed by David Cameron and George Osborne as a reason for staying in.

The Labour leaderCredit:
BBC

The Labour leader conceded that there are “differences” within the Remain camp as he warned that the deal would “import the worst working and standards conditions into Europe”.

He also accused the Remain side of making a series of “catastrophist” warnings about the risk of leaving the EU and conceded that the debate has been “poisonous”.

Mr Corbyn said:"I'm not going to take blame for people's decision. Obviously I'm hoping there's going to be a Remain Vote but there may not. Whatever the result that is the result of the referendum and we've got to work with it."

His comments, during a Sky News debate with a young audience, came just a day after he said that there can be “no upper limit” to immigration if Britain votes to stay in the European Union.

The EU flagCredit:
PA

The Labour leader was last night repeatedly pressed over views on immigration as audience members raised concerns that eastern European migrants are driving down the wages of British workers.

He said: “If you restrict movement of labour across Europe then you are defeating the whole point of there being one market across Europe.”

He reserved some of his strongest comments for Nigel Farage’s poster depicting Syrian refugees, describing it as “bigoted”.

Mr Corbyn was repeatedly pressed on his own Eurosceptic past and insisted that his support for the EU is not “unconditional” and said that if Britain votes to Remain it has “got to change dramatically”.

Mr Corbyn is backing RemainCredit:
Reuters

He said his “socialist views are totally unchanged” and insisted: “My head has not been turned by anything. My head doesn’t get turned.”

He said he is opposed to the transatlantic trade deal between the EU and the US, and also the “systematic” exploitation of employment law by big companies.

He said that the treatment of refugees across the European Union has been “appalling” and that member states have to do more to help.

And that's it...

We'll post a round-up of the debate shortly, but the most interesting point came right at the end when Mr Corbyn said he would not take the blame if the UK votes to Leave the union this week.

After a particularly negative five minutes in which he criticised the EU's attitude to refugees, negotiations on trade around the world and environmental policies, the Labour leader was asked if a Brexit vote would fall on his shoulders.

He refused to accept the premise, telling the audience he would carry on campaigning for changes he wants to see in the EU whether we vote to leave or remain.

Asked by a man in the audience if that meant the vote was inconsequential, Mr Corbyn replied no because it would be much harder to argue the UK's case outside of the bloc.

Jeremy Corbyn is preparing to take centre stage

In what will be his biggest moment yet of the EU referendum campaign, the Labour leader is about to take to the stage for the Sky news live debate.

Mr Corbyn, who has been campaigning for the UK to remain in the European Union, is likely to face difficult questions about migration after he told the BBC that there can be no upper limit on the number of people coming to the UK while we remain in the bloc.

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Earlier: As Warsi jumps ship, Farage goes on the attack

David Cameron has insisted that his comments about Jo Cox have been intended purely as a tribute to the Labour MP, after Nigel Farage accused him of a "despicable" attempt to use her death to boost his chance of winning Thursday's EU referendum.

Speaking as MPs gathered in Westminster for a recall of Parliament to pay their respects to Mrs Cox, Mr Farage said the Remain campaign were "scared witless" about the prospect of defeat on June 23 and were trying to create a link in voters' minds between her killing and the EU vote.

The Ukip leader also dismissed the defection to the Remain camp of former Conservative chair Baroness Warsi as a "Number 10 put-up job".

David CameronCredit:
Getty

Lady Warsi said her decision to change sides was sparked by a "xenophobic" poster released by Mr Farage, as well as "lies" from Michael Gove over the prospect of Turkey joining the EU.

But her announcement was greeted with bemusement by Leave campaigners, who said they were not aware that the Muslim peer had ever been a Brexit supporter.

Mr Cameron has faced criticism from some quarters for retweeting a link to the last article written by the Batley & Spen MP, in which she argued that Britain could deal with the issue of immigration more effectively by remaining in the EU.

Mr Farage - who acknowledged on Sunday that Mrs Cox's death had taken momentum out of the Leave campaign - told LBC radio: "I think there are Remain camp supporters out there who are using this to try to give the impression that this isolated horrific incident is somehow linked to arguments that have been made by myself or Michael Gove or anybody else in this campaign, and frankly that is wrong."